Posts Tagged ‘lip balm’

When a whole bunch of Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer full-sized samplers appeared at Sampleroom, I knew I have to get myself one. Unfortunately I didn’t know which shade is the best, so I just grabbed one that looks nothing like what I already have. Raisin is the chosen one! I’m really very excited about this because this is my first encounter with the brand.

It comes in a really slim tube, and contains only 2.6 grams of product. It’s a lot less than the usual 4 grams (or even 3 grams) of lipstick/balm. On the tube it looks like a really dark burgundy shade, with a little bit of shine (shimmer, even).

The one thing that struck me the most about Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer, aside from the awesome pigmentation, is the scent. It is a lovely, pepperminty scent that is almost overwhelming, but not quite. It actually translates to a cool menthol feeling on the lips, which might be a bad thing for people who are sensitive to such things.

The one bad thing about this is that the twisting mechanism does not retract the product back. Yes it pushes out the product, but it doesn’t put it back! You’ll have to push it back with your fingers if you over-exposed it, which sounds a little unhygienic.

Lip swatch! Firstly here’s my bare lips.

And here’s about one or two layers of Raisin. Check out that pigmentation!

The product is relatively long-lasting, about 3-4 hours with drinking (water and coffee, for me). This tube costs Php395, and is available at Beauty Bar. Lazada also carries some Burt’s Bees items, but not this particular one. It costed me 105 points at Sampleroom.

But this post isn’t really about the movie (which is great ofc!), but about the Maleficent makeup. Isn’t it just divine? I still can’t get over that razor-sharp contouring, and that stunningly red lip. In fact, I’m so taken by that red lip that I decided to go and see if I have anything similar in my stash. Here’s what I found, my reds collection.

I wore each of them to check how Maleficent-ish they are. I also just wanted to swatch some lipsticks.Ahem. For reference, above is my lipstick-less state. Let’s start with Colour Collection Ultimate Wear Lipstick in Bellissima.

As you can see, Bellissima leans somewhat pinkish, and comes out pretty glossy. The red is also quite a lot lighter compared to Maleficent’s. I’ll rate this as 75% Maleficent (according to Pat’s Totally Arbitrary Scale of Lipstick Comparison).

Ignoring some twinges of pain when looking at that tub, I’m glad to see that Queen Bee comes out as a deeper red compared to Bellissima. It’s also still a bit glossy, so I’d put this at a slightly higher 82% Maleficent.

Let’s move on to Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Standout (in another of those tubs).

Oooh well look at that! This one came out pretty matte (well it should!) which brings it closer to Maleficent in terms of texture. It’s still quite bright though, while we are actually looking for something rather brickish. I’ll say this is 88% Maleficent.

Next we have Avon Vitaluscious Lipstick in Reviving Red.

This one seems closer now in terms of shade, rather than texture. It seems to lean more brick compared to the first few ones, but it’s quite glossy. I’ll place it the same with Revlon, 88% Maleficent.

Now we come to Ofra Lipstick #202.

I really like how strikingly bold this is. It does feel like Maleficent, but unfortunately it doesn’t look quite like Maleficent. It is quite matte, but it’s too bright to be called brick red. I’ll go with 85% Maleficent, because it feels closer to the target compared to Queen Bee, but less so than Standout or Reviving Red.

Next we have Ever Bilena Lipstick in Flaring Cranberry.

I know this would turn out quite on the pink side, but I wanted to see how it looked compared to the others. It’s quite bold, yes, but it’s totally not the right color. I’ll rate it 50% Maleficent.

Last but not the least, Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm in Ripe Raspberry.

It’s definitely not a lipstick, but I thought it is red enough to be included here. Unfortunately, while it is quite pigmented as a lip balm, it is not of course as pigmented as the lipsticks. Compared to them it really is quite sheer, although the red is pretty evident. Since this is red and not pink, I can put this at 60% Maleficent.

In conclusion, I didn’t really come that close to Maleficent-level of lipstick. The closest I got is Revlon Matte Balm in Standout and Avon Vitaluscious Lipstick in Reviving Red, both at 88%. It made me realize that I barely have any dark or brick reds, and I have too many bright reds of the same “level”.

Ever since Glamourbox started featuring the brand Pixi on their Boutique, I’ve always wondered if they were any good. I couldn’t really tell just judging from the product shots, and online reviews were pretty inconclusive. What was stopping me was that they seemed a little expensive to just try on a whim. What was pushing me to buy was that I loved the Tinted Brilliance Balm (Magic Tink Tint) they included in the April Glamourbox last year (OMG it’s been a year already!) and I honestly wanted to get more of those. I envy Kira’scollection!

What finally convinced me to take the plunge is 1. Glamourbox had a pretty tempting offer (get their new Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm free for every 2k purchase of Pixi products) and 2. Iana of The Beauty Bee blogged about her purchase which turned out to be the exact list of things I wanted to get! So here’s what I got:

From left to right I got my freebie Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm in Ripe Raspberry, the Pixi Mesmerizing Mineral Palette in Copper Peach, and of course I got my second Tinted Brilliance Balm this time in the shade Craving Coral. I wanted to also get the third in Iana’s list, the Brow Duo, but unfortunately at the time of my order it was sold out. I instead got another Tinted Brilliance Balm to give to a bestie.

Let me show you each of these items. First we have the Pixi Mesmerizing Mineral Palette in Copper Peach. It has six neutral but shimmery shades in the palette, and it comes with its own dual ended sponge applicator. The palette itself is a little quirky, as its hinges open at the short side instead of the long side as in the usual palettes. This costs Php620.

Here’s the stuff written on the box. Important to note that this has 5.76 grams of product total.

I’ve designated numbers for each of the shades as there were no shade names included. It will also make it easier to know which shade I am talking about in any future FOTD I may use this in.

And here are the arm swatches. They are all two swipes each, with the top row having no primer and the bottom row has a swipe of primer (Artdeco Eyeshadow Base) underneath. This is a larger than normal photo so you can click on the photo for a bigger version.

As you can see, shade 1 is barely noticeable on my skin. This will probably end up as some sort of highlighter. Shades 2 and 4 are almost indistinguishable, but in person shade 4 is more peach. Shade 3 is a matte brown that looks a lot darker in the pan but is actually pretty soft. Shade 5 is very coppery red, and shade 6 leans metallic brown. I’ve used this in my FOTD last weekend, and I am liking this palette so far.

Next we have Pixi Tinted Brilliance Balm in Craving Coral. I wanted to have something non-red (most of my recent new lippies are reds) and I thought I’d try a coral shade. It comes in this cute box with some information on the sides. I apologize for the blurriness of the ingredient list. This costs Php790.

The tube is the same one as my first Brilliance Balm, but without the Tinkerbell design. Also the cap seems to be sturdier this time around. It has a band of coral around the twist end. It has 3 grams of product. The shade Craving Coral is tamer than I imagined it to be. Almost peach and not a dramatic coral at all. I love it!

Lastly we have the newly released (here, anyway) Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm, and the shade I received is Ripe Raspberry. The nature of the freebie is that you don’t get to choose what you’ll receive. To me this is quite exciting, and I am so happy with the shade I received! Ripe raspberry is quite a strong red in the tube, and is quite as strong on the lips. The tube itself is a very appealing hot pink-and-mint green combo. It has 4 grams of product. This costs Php420.

And here are the swatches of the two lip balms. The Ripe Raspberry doesn’t look all that red here to be honest. I really like both a lot, although it is the Ripe Raspberry that made it into my bag. I wouldn’t mind getting more shades of these!

Here are some photos of me wearing the lip balms. This is me wearing Ripe Raspberry.

And this is me wearing Craving Coral.

Pixi is available at the Glamourbox Boutique, Ava.ph, some select Snoe branches, and Commonthread at Greenbelt 5. Pixi is cruelty-free.

Whoa this is pretty late already, but I figured I might as well still post a review. I got this Pixi Glow Magic Tink Tint in Happy Thoughts Pink from the April Glamourbox (2013).

It is a twist-up chubby pencil type of lip gloss with a clear plastic cap, and the shade I received is Happy Thoughts Pink. As you can see below, it has 3 grams of product.

It is also trademarked by Disney for using the Tinkerbell branding. See if you can spot Tinkerbell in the photo below.

I’ve been using this for quite some time, which can be evidenced by the pretty beat up state of my tube. I have some pink stains on the tip of the tube and where the cap ends. The cap itself is cracked in several places, which I fixed with the help of several wraps of scotch tape. I think I shoved the tube into its cap way too vigorously, hence the cracks.

It applies on clear on the lips, but deepens into a nice pinkish glow after a few minutes.

Bare lips

With one layer of Magic Tink Tint

After a few hours, it settles into a nice glossy pinkish red. I love how it doesn’t feel sticky on the lips, and it actually has a faint sweet taste and scent. It keeps my lips moisturized. This can last for a few hours, but will not survive eating and drinking.

Tinted Brilliance Balms like this are Php790 at the Glamourbox Boutique. They have several shades available, and are bringing in more!

Six months after the first ever Glamourbox Special Edition, Glamourbox releases its second one, this time from Snoe! Ever since GB announced a partnership with Snoe (they carry a huge amount of Snoe products in the Boutique) I have foreseen, or at least hoped pretty hard, that they will release a special edition from Snoe. They didn’t disappoint! Glamourbox opens 2014 with a bang with this awesome Special Edition Snoe Glamourbox!

Warning: Photo-intensive post ahead! [You can click on each photo for a bigger size.]

Unfortunately, unlike the Avon Glamourbox, the Snoe box just came in the standard Glamourbox print. It doesn’t really detract from the experience, but I am a huge fan of limited editions and would have wanted a Snoe-printed box to go with the Avon one. 😛

Here is a sneak peek which I uploaded to twitter a few hours ago. Check out that big bottle teasing us with surprise goodness!

This is the welcome card for this month. I like how that white burst really pops out and is a great representation of the new year. I will show you the back of it at the end of the post.

Here are the contents of the box when you remove the welcome card. Check out those awesome products! Let me show them to you one by one, in the order of preference.

Let me first confess that I was hoping for a makeup-leaning box, but instead we get a more bath and body concentrated experience. I don’t really mind, honestly, since I do get to try Snoe products that I wouldn’t have thought of trying.

In any case there is still one makeup product in the box: the Snoe Poudre Extraordinaire. I’ve seen a lot of rave reviews of this product, notably from Liz of Project Vanity, and I’ve been wanting to try this ever since. I received this really cute sample tub, and I think the shade is the lightest, Vanilla Creme. This is a mineral powder that contains acai berry, and claims to protect the skin from free radicals, tightens and smoothens fine lines yet totally blends naturally into the skin. Let us also not overlook the fact that this has SPF. I have no idea how much product this sample has, but the full size of 35g costs Php799. It didn’t come with a brush or sponge applicator.

The next one in my favorites list is the biggest item in the box: Snoe Hair Heroes Agent Zero Cleansing Serum. It’s an all-around cleanser made specifically for sensitive skin (yay!), and contains no fragrance, sulfates, and silicones. It can be used for both hair and body, and claims to be gentle enough even for babies. I’m so excited to try this out! Check out the label design, I like the tux detail that supports the “Agent Zero” theme. Props also for having the manufacture and expiry dates clearly printed on the back. This is the full sized bottle (250ml) and costs Php599. This product alone pays back the cost of the subscription (Php595).

I was very intrigued by this next product: Snoe Body Ritual Recipes Whipped Body Frosting Lotion. I had originally thought, hey that’s a really cute pink bottle. A closer look shows that the bottle is actually transparent, and it is the product that is actually pink! It’s a lotion filled with goodness in the form of Vitamin E, papaya extracts, and SPF15, and smells really great too! I love lotions and this is a welcome addition to my arsenal. This looks to be full sized, 150g, which costs Php249. It’s a little more expensive per gram compared to the Human Heart Nature body butters.

Next we have a new form of the Beso Balm: the Bedside Besobalm Deep Moisturizing Lip Treatment in Pink Pout Pucker. It’s made to be used while sleeping, how cool is that! It’s also perfectly timed, as the cold weather is wrecking havok on lips. The welcome card claims that it “creates luscious pink lips”, so I’m thinking this has some amount of lip color/stain as well. This full size 4g tube costs Php249.

We now come to a pair of soaps that Snoe was originally known for. These are both whitening soaps called Snow White Beauty Bar, and the variants I got were Organic Papaya and Lightening Licorice. The Organic Papaya one is an exfoliator and aims to treat blemishes and dark spots, while the Lightening Licorice is supposed to brighten and nourish skin for a younger complexion. While I am not really interested in whitening, I like interesting soaps like these so I am happy to receive them too. Each of these soaps is 150g and costs Php139. Again check out the manufacture and expiry dates printed on the back.

Lastly we have the Snoe Fizzy Clean Foaming Hand Sanitizer. I am honestly not a big fan of fancy hand sanitizers as I am perfectly content with my bag mainstay (Bench Alcogel). Snoe’s hand sanitizer is supposed to be a quirky one because it foams up. This one is 50ml and costs Php179, which is really quite steep for a hand sanitizer. The bottle is also huge and obviously contains liquid, which makes it not quite portable.

My impressions of the Snoe Glamourbox Special Edition: This is a much awaited box for me, and it mostly delivered! I like the fact that I get to try products I wouldn’t normally consider buying, and I still get to try a makeup item as well. Snoe is also (as far as I know) cruelty-free so I’m really quite happy about that.

Value review: The total value of this box, excluding the poudre sample and the hand sanitizer, is Php1375. This is already more than twice the box cost of Php595! I really don’t mind the fact that a lot of that is just one product (agent zero) because I still get to try all these interesting items. Admittedly, this is also way less than the average box value of Glamourbox (Php1800) but keep in mind that I didn’t include the value of the poudre sample and the hand sanitizer. Again I am so so pleased with the Special Edition, and I’m really looking forward to the next one!

You can read more about the Snoe company at their website, and you can browse prices at their online store. Snoe products are available in various locations and can also be found at the Glamourbox Boutique.